Tim Howard
Appearances
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Weston, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna, in this matter, it's important that U.S. Soccer and Mauricio Pochettino say, absolutely zero chance I'm playing without those three.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It then becomes about problem solving and leadership, right? And then you crave that. Most athletes crave that. And then you want more. So then you go into your national team. You're like, no, no, hang on. I got a voice. I know how to fix this problem. And you step up and you stand out. So I think the leadership aspect is a really good one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Really, really a lot of fun.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm just waiting my turn. Go ahead. I hate it. I hate it. You and I talk about this. Why? Well, yeah. So I hate it because ultimately, and this is not us talking here in 2024, this is going to be the same conversation on everybody's lips in 2030. The travel, that distance of travel is going to wear on teams.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Now I know, I know the teams that have to come from South America in those opening games will have quote unquote ample rest, but the
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The fact of the matter is when you get to the later stages and I'm talking last four or get to a final, I think there'll be a team, if there's a team from that started the tournament in South America, who I think is going to have a disadvantage because of that travel for teams who don't.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
A cumulative... Yes, because... Because these guys do this all the time.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Totally. Totally. But in the midst of a tournament where these guys... Look, when you travel back to... If you're a Brazilian and you travel back to somewhere in the Premier League in London, you've traveled back to... Paris and play for Paris Saint-Germain, whatever the case is. The fact of the matter is you don't actually have to perform on the one-off. You can. Maybe you take the weekend off.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's not going to be the case with these teams. And so I just, yes, I know they know how to travel on first-class planes and charter planes and get their sleep right. I ultimately think travel is a disadvantage. In 2014, we traveled more than any team in Brazil as a U.S. team. We had the most miles logged, and it was hard.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's not the reason we lost in that particular case, but it could be, and I don't love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The other World Cup that was announced was 2034 in Saudi Arabia. And it's an interesting one because Qatar was not that long ago. I mean, from today, it wasn't that long ago. By 2034, it will be. But playing a World Cup in the winter has its... But then there's also a benefit for the European players in the middle of their season. It's not at the end.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It throws scheduling into a little bit of a loop in terms of league schedule. But what's your thoughts on the winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And of course- Where was this? It was in Switzerland. Oh, you were in Switzerland. Switzerland.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
OLD, the Premier League. Yeah, it was Derby weekend in Manchester, my former home. Good old city of Manchester. It was a big one. It was a big one for so many reasons because City had to win, right? Like they had to get back on track. And Man United under new manager Ruben Amaran, they need something, right? They need a marker.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
As you start to build your team, you have to put a marker down and feel like you're building towards the right things. For all of you who didn't see the game, and I'm guessing most of our listeners saw the game, it was fairly dull. It was kind of a little bit of a shadow boxing match, but then it exploded into life, as you saw. Ahmad with the winning penalty. Awful giveaway from Mateus Nunez.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Bruno Fernandes, obviously, equalized. And then City, of course, trying to push for the winner. But in the end, it was a red weekend.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, I mean, Nunez gives a pass away, and then, of course, you try with all your might to make up for it and then give away the penalty. Compound mistakes lead to goals in soccer. So, you know, that's not something that Pep Guardiola can legislate for, right? Ahmad Diallo, I think the great thing, and you know this, is when a new manager comes in, it gives everybody a new opportunity.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
No, no, no.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And oftentimes... flowers bud that we didn't even expect. And Diallo, because of the way the system works, there are crucial pieces in Amram's system. And one of those is the wide areas in particular. The wingback, the winger, depending on what he plays. But Ahmad has seemed to pick the system up really quickly, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And so he's had a ton of good performances to the extent where you're looking at it. And I would argue that since Amram's come in, he's been the best performer of anybody. Obviously, there's been some good performances through Bruno Fernandes, who we expect, and Hoyland has kind of come to life. But Ahmad, for sure, has been one of the big bright spots for me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That's why I need a manager who can pull that out of particularly a lot of these young players. Look, so much to unpack here, topic by topic, when it comes to the Derby. First one.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
for me kyle walker and most of us saw this kyle walker and and hoyland there's a coming together um where you see this a lot in in in soccer right there's there's you get angry and you're not supposed to you're not supposed to fight because there's violent conduct right so if you raise your hands on someone you're going to get red cards so oftentimes players in their anger they come together and they like put each other's head on so much oh yeah i'm gonna headbutt you
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Right. And so Hoyland initiates the movement, but it's not a head, but it's a coming together. And Kyle Walker leans in. And as they're touching foreheads, Kyle Walker then goes down like a sack of potatoes. And which is, you know, it's shithousery, which is one of my favorite words and actions. And so, you know, I think they both got booked, if I'm not mistaken. But yeah, I mean, Kyle Walker.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I was like, bro, come on. I actually don't mind it. I think sometimes when, you know, I think the referee in those moments, I like when the referee is like strong and basically looks at him just like, get up. Like, stop this nonsense. Everybody get up. There was nothing in it. You're getting a booking. You're getting a booking. Let's go.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Anyway. There's a follow on from that after the match. Cause Hoyland wasn't ready to let it go. I'll let you read the quote.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I love it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Here's why. Because... Hoyland, his price tag's too big for him, and he's a young player. Right. Price tag's too big.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Maybe he, he, I would say maybe it's not his fault.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He's underperformed. He's underperformed.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Well, it's his fault. He's underperformed. A hundred percent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That, but not, I like him as, as a young striker. What I would say is since you've gotten to United, your team has stunk. You've underperformed. And by the way, if they had won this Darby last season, He wouldn't have said that. It's really easy to kick city when they're down. So this social media, I think it was on Instagram, wherever it lives, It's very convenient to me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
What I prefer is that he just keeps doing the business. And look, you can say whatever you want on your own social media. Again, it's for me to judge at this point, but it's not for me to do. If you want to do it, that's fine. It's just a very convenient manner. I think he got caught up in the emotion of it because as I said, had they beat a title winning city last season,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
in that season and they won the Derby, he wouldn't have said those things. No, there's no chance he would have. Okay, so that's my point. I agree.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, it's an interesting one for me, LD, because... The same decision was taken, but they're not the same for me. Because... What do you mean? Well, I think going forward, it's not going to be the same, right? I think there's two players at different points of their United career.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So, yeah, I mean, to your point, there's going to be a time in that game where Ameren's saying, I wish I could have them. But I think when you're a manager and you take such a strong stance about player selection, you know that going into it. You basically are telling yourself... this is a big decision and there's going to be some fallout from this, but I have to, for the greater good of the team.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And I think, I think his quotes in one of our amazing producers, we'll probably put this up on our screen at some point. There was a quote from Ameren. He named a number of things that you have to do to get in his team. Right. And, and, Any number of those things is what Garnaccio and Rashford weren't doing.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, and look, here's the quote. He said, for me, it's important, the performance in training, the performance in games, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with your teammates, the way you push your teammates, all of that's important, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So what he's basically saying there is either one or all of those things, probably most of those things, are something he doesn't like and he's not seeing. The issue, what I would say, and this speaks to the... enormity of the job and the task that Ruben Alvarez has is this club has been littered with mediocrity for so long. The standards have dropped. There's not a lot of leaders.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Like, by the way, for the record, I was at United three years. You can say I was amazing or I sucked. It doesn't matter. What I do know is I was inside those walls for four years. And I can assure you, Sir Alex Ferguson, let me scroll, would never have had to say, the performance in training isn't good. In games, the way you dress, you know why?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Because Gary Neville and Roy Keane would have been like, what are you wearing? That ain't correct. You eat like crap. Sort yourself out, right? Because the leadership structure at Manchester United was so strong within the dressing room. So that would have never had to, that would have never had to been said on the outside. And so look, I think when I look at Marcus Rashford,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He's a player I really like. I think he's a player who at one point in time, a couple of years ago, did some things on the pitch that we thought this kid is world-class. He's playing for England. He's going to continue to be world-class. I think what we've seen is maybe he's not the guy who just always wants the ball.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Maybe he's a squad player who wants to kind of fit in, get in the slipstream and be a really, really good Premier League player. And by the way, That's actually okay because I think some of the things he does off the field are brilliant. I think he's a top talent, whether that's at Manchester United or not. His time at Manchester United feels like it could be coming to an end.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That's my personal opinion. Now, Garnaccio, supremely talented. Young player. He's got magic in his boots. Can play on the left side, can play on the right side. This is a matter of he's not been schooled since he's gotten to the club. There's been zero leadership internally in the dressing room.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He's somebody who needs direction and boundaries, and I think Amram could be the guy who gives it to him.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
All of us. I think why I give Todd Boley so much credit is because I was one of those people. Confused, right? We're all confused by...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
um you know he comes from a baseball background right and so we understand when when you look at city currently you look at everton and nottingham forest right these are teams that were um knocked back by profit and sustainability rules right there was there was it was a mess for some of these clubs they're getting fined and docked points and all that and todd bowley's come in and he's basically said we're gonna we're gonna
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
only sign young players under a certain age. We're going to extend these contracts instead of giving them two, you know, three-year contracts with an option. These are like seven, eight, nine-year contracts. We've never seen that, right? And to add to the confusion, right, with Todd Boley, it was, he had Graham Potter as a manager, Lampard was in there, Tuchel, Pochettino, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So it was chaotic. And maybe by design, but the thing about Todd Boley that I found interesting was when you're in the position like he is, and things aren't going right, you automatically come out and defend yourself. He didn't do that. Which added to the mystery.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
When your team stinks and what you're trying to put in place isn't working, these young players weren't working, this bloated squad of 30 plus players wasn't working. You continually bring in managers who have to deal with this bloated squad and then you sack them very quickly. This sounds and feels like chaos. Now that the dust is settling, and Maresca, by the way, Enzo Maresca, hats off to you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
LD, what's up, brother? Listen, I just want to start by saying it was so good having you on my side of the country. You don't often come this way to New York City because you are very much a Cali boy. Did you enjoy it? Please tell me why.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, look, I'm so excited for Gio Reyna because… He's a kid, right? So he'd hate me for saying he's a kid because he'd probably look at me and say, no, I'm a grown man because this is what kids do, right? I tell my daughter the same thing. She's a little girl. She's like, no, I'm not. I'm going to college. She still has a lot to learn, right? As they all do.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
You can already probably have manager of the season. He's doing that good of a job. is he trimmed the squad. He basically said, you're Raheem Sterling's and you're people who I don't have any use for, which is fine. Your surplus requirements, feel free to move on. Right? He did at the beginning of the season.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Then he basically said, look, we are in a European competition, a Premier League competition. I'm going to have a Premier League 11, most likely, and then I'm going to have a midweek 11. Right? And the two aren't really going to blend. I'm not going to chop and change too much. These are going to... And that's what those young players needed.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
They needed a belief in... Because what was happening before was the squad was so big with these talented young players. It was always, okay... well, this will be my center back pairing today. And then next week, I'll do another center back pairing. And then you'll play on the wing one week. It didn't work, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And Enzo Marusco has come in and has been so incredibly strong and said, if I'm the manager, this is how we're going to do it. And we're starting to see the success of the youngest team in the Premier League. I mean, absolutely flying high. And look, the talent is there. Clearly, Tal Boli wasn't signing bad players. He was signing really talented young players. But with that comes some worry.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And right now they're getting it right. I mean, there's a lot of surprises in this season. City's downfall being one of them. Where Nottingham Forest is, and we'll talk about that in a second. That's a surprise, but I mean, Jesus. Chelsea and Liverpool at the top of the table battling it out. That for me is just like, you would have never thought it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Well, by so many accounts, he's certainly the top goalkeeper on the planet for a lot of reasons, club and country, but in the top three, of course. I jumped out of my seat when I saw it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I just think when there's a reaction save and that save is basically behind the goalkeeper, so a goalkeeper has to, in a last-ditch effort, reach behind themselves to claw a ball out, that's when the save starts to gain momentum and kind of become otherworldly. And for me, that was that. It was a reaction. We know his reactions are really good.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And for him to be able to claw it out when it was clearly behind his body, nearly behind the line, those are the most impressive. So I thought my hat's off to him again. But he makes so many of those that you're almost like, this somewhat becomes routine. But yeah, look, Nottingham Forest, fourth place in the Premier League. I could have never imagined that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I mean, when I think about before the season, what you'd have got better odds on, or what would have surprised you more? Would it be Nottingham Forest in fourth place, or would it be Manchester City's downfall? I'm not sure you'd get odds on either of them.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Why I'm so excited for Gio Reyna is because he's a generational talent. You know, people constantly come up to me and you. I could, if I clicked on a search engine right now, they'd say, when's America going to produce the next great... world-class player. And when are we going to win a world cup? That's the question on everyone. This is a world-class player. He has, he has generational talent.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, it's interesting because you never want to see managers get sacked or lose their job. The fact of the matter is in the Premier League, with the business being so high and the financial structure that is global football, managers will get sacked in the Premier League. And the fact of the matter is Wolves and Southampton are firmly rooted in the bottom three and they're just not playing well.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I think it's a cautionary tale, and this is a big debate, is do you go and play expansive football or do you just try and stay in the Premier League by hook or by crook? And I think you have to have a plan A, B, and possibly C going into the season so that it doesn't feel like a radical change when you do it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Look, what I would say is I'm very interested to see what names pop up for these jobs because both of these teams, although there's still time because of when the when the sackings happened, both of these teams are going to struggle to stay up. And so you now have to find a really good manager who's willing to take that challenge on, not easy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
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Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He and Christian and maybe one or two other have generational talent that we've, that we've rarely ever seen. I'm excited for him because he's 22 years old. He's a baby. Do you know how much pressure he's had on his shoulders? His dad, who we played with, is a captain of the US men's national team. Those aren't easy shoes to fill. You then have to go over to Europe.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Okay, time for everybody's favorite segment of the week. Well, if it's not everyone's favorite, it's certainly Jordan's favorite because she gets to have air time. Mailbag questions. Jordan, get on in here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Jordan was there.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I know. I know. But you know what? Then you also got your own airtime because I think there was quite a number of times we had to take pictures with you. She said, guys, guys, guys, it's about me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Everything's about you. This segment's about you.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
All right. What do you got?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, I mean, the one that stands out is I don't remember if, and I have traded jerseys with guys who I didn't like or didn't like me. And because again, it is, as we're saying, it's the ultimate sign of respect. Like it's literally, forget anything else. That's like, okay, this person and I understand each other. And I remember... 2015, Diego Costa and I at Goodison Park.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Diego Costa was a brilliant striker for Chelsea at the time. And he was always mixing it up and we were getting pasted. And so I just thought, here, this was a perfect day. This was one of those stories where it was like the perfect day where I'm like, I suck so bad today that I really want to get sent off because I am so tired of being out here sucking.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And I think we lost 5-1 or something like that at home. It might've been opening weekend. And he had said something to Seamus Coleman, who was my right back and friend. So I got the grips with him and I gripped him up and I was begging for a fight, begging for it. And I couldn't be separated.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And after the game, they, like I said, whooped up on us and we hugged it out and hugged and kissed and walked off the field arm in arm. And it was like this, you just kind of understand that there's- Just part of the show, yeah. It's part of it, right? And you appreciate the competitiveness.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
You then have to carry the weight of, of a non-goalkeeper, right? Because goalkeepers had, US goalkeepers had a ton of success in Europe. You've got to be the one to go over and you have to start in the Champions League and you have to start in the Bundesliga. It's hard, man. It's hard. And he's young.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah. So, James, great question. We at Unfiltered Soccer promise, because we've already talked about it internally, to have a much larger discussion on promotion and relegation at a much higher level than just a short blurb because it's an awesome conversation. It's one that I can tell you for, so I don't, I don't think it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I don't think promotion relegation can work in America, and I'll give you loads of reasons why I think that as we go forward in these podcasts. A lot of it starts with the conversation about what Landon just spoke about in terms of valuation and losses and profits. So what I would say, and this is the fun part about it, I have had multiple conversations. I'm still on the side of no.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm excited for him because over the next couple of years, his growth and maturation, I think is going to skyrocket. And he now has an opportunity to go, no, this is mine. This isn't my dad's. This isn't any expectation. This is just me. And I'm figuring out, because by the way, he's figuring out how to play football.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I've had multiple promotion relegation conversations with people who I trust and who I respect and who I love. These are agents. These are head of leagues. These are owners. And I've staunchly argued my point against, and I've walked away from that conversation saying, And thought, I can see it happening. I can see it happening for the reasons I've been told.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
So it's a debate that, look, I would happily jump on board with anything that continues to grow the game of soccer in this country. So that's hands down. If that means yes or no, I'm on board. I just currently, for my own feelings, think that it won't work. And there's some valuable conversations around that that we'll have.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm like, that's all I do is work.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, great question. Great answer, LDI. Look, for me, it's about individuals creating community around the game. And what is creating community around the game? Landon said, go to a game. Absolutely. There's so many levels of the game that you can support, whether that be the highest level or everywhere in between.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Go to bars, restaurants, watch games with friends, support local soccer teams in your community, play sports.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
um you know sign up for leagues anything that surrounds the game you know it's interesting now that i now that i don't kick a ball and i i can no longer play or don't want to play if i'm brutally honest i have so many opportunities in my everyday life to just create community around the game yes some of my jobs mean that but
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
the highest level he's figuring out how to be an adult i mean these are all we all dealt with this it's impossible and most people fail and i'm just so excited for him um you know that he's back playing i love that he got another opportunity to play again and he produced because that's what it's about ld it literally is about saying particularly as an american i've said this quite a lot about myself about christian when he was at um chelsea um about so many of my teammates
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
watch games, talk to coaches just offline, not not not official capacities, just connect people within the game. And I obviously have a platform to do that. But in general, in your local communities, I just think you just have to continue to create the community around soccer and people will get excited. And the great thing is you could be the steward for that cause, right?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And so you could get people in your office and say, let's go grab a beer. Everyone wants to go hang out and be around people they like and then introduce them to soccer, you know? And I think that's important. Just watch it on TV. Love that.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Jordan, thank you. Thanks, Jordan.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Well, I think the House of Cards, part of it is when you look at the Philadelphia Eagles last year, that was a bit of the knock on them of why things imploded, right? And so maybe there's a carry-on effect to what you're saying. There's some truth in that. A couple things.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I know people are going to say, and of course it's not politically correct, nor should you say it, that I'm a soft soccer player and all we do is get fouled and roll around. That's fine. The fact of the matter is football is so overaggressive. I'm not talking about the tackling and the hitting. That's brilliant.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I feel like I never see a conversation on the sideline that's anything other than some guy being beat red in the face shouting. It's just such an over-aggressive thing. And by the way, if you ever watch me play, I like to shout. That's not my point. But it always surprises me.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's different when you're an American. You'll never convince me otherwise, which means every single day you've got to go out and train and perform like your life depended on because that's the only thing that's going to get you in a team. So I was super happy for him that he produced. And you know what? He was rewarded for it. So long may that continue because I think it's awesome.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Like in football, there's so much energy and emotion and adrenaline that that's all they do is just yell and scream for no apparent reason.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's just testosterone, dude. It is.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And so when I think about... But the funny part of that is I always think it's interesting like...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
on the on the outside we only see we only see it from one point of view right and um either maybe we're at the game but most of the time we see it on television from an angle and it's a replay the same angle of people arguing but i've been these you know you and i have been in these dress rooms together i've been in dress rooms where it's all kicked off and things have been said to
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The head coach, and I always think the head coach, that's the top of the pyramid, right? That sanctity can never be broken. And I remember being in a dressing room where literally my best friend on the team, who, if I stood up to him, would literally just go, boom, and pummel me into the ground. That's how strong he was. And I remember there being an argument with...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
to your point, with him who was very much an alpha male for whatever that means in today's society. He was like, it was his way or the highway. This is my best friend. And there was a, the coach said something to him, didn't like, did something that he didn't like. So my friend stands up and I think, oh God. And everyone thought, oh God. This is after a loss.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
He was literally going to hit our head coach. And I remember getting up from my stool and beelining it for my best friend and thinking, he's going to have to smash me first, which he would have. But I'm not going to let him hit. Even if I agree with my best friend, he cannot... do anything to my head coach. You cannot hit him. He cannot do it because once that happens, everything's lost.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Um, thankfully I did not get beat up that day. Um, nor did our head coach, uh, at some point hours later, cooler heads prevail. But yeah, I, I, I agree. If you're the head coach, ultimately you have carte blanche to say and do whatever you want, whether people like it or not. So, um, we just have to be respected.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, it's hard. What I would say is being a Giants fan, any dysfunction in Dallas or in Philadelphia, I appreciate. It makes me happy. So long may it continue. Sorry, Eagles fans probably won't be at an Eagles game.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, thanks, everybody. It absolutely is not in my contract. I'm here for all of our listeners every week. Hit me up whenever you like, and we'll connect. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, VW. Have an amazing week. We'll see you in two weeks for another edition of Unfiltered Soccer.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Enjoy.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I mean, I think that what you said is so poignant. The fact that we expect two Americans to just be on the field for Juve and to perform is like, wow, we've come a long way. We've come a long way. And that's not a we thing. That's a massive credit to Weston. Yeah, that's a they thing. I mean, they are putting that work in every day. Also, what I love about them is they've got that pizzazz, man.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
They've got that arrogance that I just love in particularly attacking players. But Weston, for me, is special, man. He's got an engine like no other. He breaks things up. constantly. He's always on the go. You know, he gets the ball off of our center backs and our goalkeeper and our fullbacks. And then the next thing, you know, that's your expectation. And then he filters things. He creates tempo.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Next thing you know, he's getting on the end of a header at the back post, like constantly being dang gold dangerous. And I just thought, you know, we throw this, we throw this turnaround box to box midfielder. And I think it's lost its luster a little bit because of your double six and the pivot, your false nine. Like he's, he's really very much a box to box midfielder.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And yeah, I was super stoked for those guys.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, at Dortmund, yeah.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Look, money makes the world go round. I know nobody wants to hear that, but it's more money, it's more games, it's more eyes. TV rights are going up. There's an issue here. There's a log jam at the top and there's more games being added because there's more money involved. Now, what I would say is, You touched on it.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
The biggest issue for me, because look, I think if my team's in the Club World Cup and I'm playing on one of the biggest teams in the world, I mean, in the moment, I'm probably excited to compete at that level. A trophy's on the line, so I can get myself excited for that. I think the difficult part, LD, is at the end of every season, right? In England, it was...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It was the Premier League being finished no matter where you placed European places or winning the title or staving off relegation. Maybe you're in a cup final, an FA Cup. Maybe there's a Champions League final, but then you're done. And you're like, I'm going to go with a different group of guys. I'm going back with my national team. I'm going to refocus.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's hard to continue on that road even further with your club team because you need that break. But more importantly for the US, right? Because this is USLNT. There is no World Cup qualifying. very limited availability to get your best players in the trenches together when it matters.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Being on the road, playing back-to-back games, three games in the course of 10 days, getting into the next round, regrouping, trying to get advanced, get to a final. There's no opportunity for that. This is the opportunity. The Gold Cup is the opportunity. When this opportunity goes, and if potentially three of our best six players, Weston, Timwea, and Gio Reyna are missing from that,
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
That for me is a problem. And forget me. I got a nice, amazing studio in New York. That's a problem for Mr. Pochettino. Huge problem. So I wonder if there's going to be any wiggle room. I wonder how much power and influence U.S. soccer can have. I hope U.S. soccer can have the influence and just say, look, We're going to flex our muscles here.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I don't know how you do that. At one point, you were trying to talk to me and your jaw was like starting to freeze and you couldn't speak, which is a real thing. I know, I was like, I'll let it, I'll let it. It was fun. You know what I loved?
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
And if we need to create some sort of dust-up with the clubs, so be it. Because I think in this matter, it's important that U.S. soccer and Mauricio Pochettino say, absolutely zero chance I'm playing without those three.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
My argument would be we agree on what the rights fee was for the Club World Cup. What I would say is I'm U.S. soccer, and I got just as much money involved in the 2026 World Cup as they do, and it matters more to me. And so U.S. soccer and Pochettino have to fight their corner as strongly as FIFA is going to fight theirs. No, they will.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
having a good World Cup.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, shout out to Anthony Robinson, former teammate of mine at Everton. Many people probably don't know that. Did you? Was he there? I forgot that. No. Yeah. He was on the fringes of the first team. When we were there, good kid, man. Really, really good kid. Someone who's easy to root for, but playing well.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I think maybe, maybe pre, pre one of our world cups, we did something in Times Square, but I'm also thinking like, I feel like you and I have had a decent amount of success in the game. And I'm like, I'm not sure I've ever stood in Times Square with like my name, with my name plastered on a moving billboard. You might have. No, I haven't. That was insane. That's cool. It was awesome.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
Yeah, as you said, just his ability to get up and down the flanks and continuously put in dangerous crosses. Again, two assists this weekend. It was... Yeah, you talk about oftentimes the special players coming from the spine of the team, right? Like in the heart of the midfield or goal scorers. But his...
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
his ability to contribute on both ends for Fulham in the Premier League and for the US Men's National Team. I mean, can't say enough good things about Anthony Robinson and, you know, another player, you know, touch wood, but he seems to be not only consistent, but constantly available, constantly playing big, big minutes and big moments. So that's a big one for us.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
It's a really interesting point you make. Let me dive into that a little bit. So when you're playing a little bit, and I can attest to this when I was playing at Manchester United, I was a fringe player, right? So my only thought was like, how do I not screw up so that I can try me, that I can play next week, right? When I got to Everton and I was like, I'm putting in performances every week.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
I'm going to play every week because I'm consistent. My thought became less about me and it became more about the fans and the performance and the internal struggles of a team. And how do I be part of the solution instead of the problem? And that only came through consistency of playing, ownership of the team, responsibility.
Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan and Tim Howard
Club World Cup vs Gold Cup, Drama in the Manchester Derby, and Promotion/Relegation in MLS
When you play a lot, other players look around at you and they're like, all right, well, he's got to have the answers. What are the answers, Tim? What are the answers, Landon? And so when you start to play those big minutes and it starts becoming less about you because you're like, I've already figured me out. I know I'm going to be on the team sheet.